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June 15, 2012

Paranormal Fridays: Violent Hauntings

When I was a lot younger and less experienced I genuinely believed hauntings were like holographs: you could see the ghosts and activity but the ghosts couldn't touch you or move objects. Hauntings to me were more like watching a scary movie or going through The Haunted Mansion ride at Disneyland. That way of think was a cozy way of dealing with a scary subject, and it worked well for me--until later in life.

As I grew older my belief on hauntings being benign started to change. Countless other people I have met can attest that at least some ghosts can move objects, toy with electronics and appliances and even touch the living. There have been cases documented of ghosts (or what some call demons) slapping, punching, biting and even scratching people to the point they draw blood. It's an unsettling thought, but it seems that at least some hauntings can turn violent.

I know there are a lot of theories floating around out there about how ghosts could possibly affect anything physical, but in the end I am comfortable with saying that I don't really understand it myself. The fact that a haunting can pose a threat to people on multiple levels (physical, emotional and spiritual) should be enough for such activity to be taken seriously. Unfortunately, the large number of hoaxes and people's insistence that if something cannot be proven with our current science it does not exist throws up roadblocks.

Naturally most people--me included--usually dismiss paranormal activity at first as our mind playing tricks on us, or some other thing that is causing the phenomena. I don't think that is necessarily a bad thing, otherwise we would all be claiming natural events were really ghosts in our house. Continuing to ignore obvious signs of a paranormal problem could eventually lead to serious consequences, maybe even physical assault.

I'm not necessarily trying to freak everyone out here, but I am trying to raise awareness and maybe get a conversation started. What can be done to combat violent hauntings? What about prevention? Why is it some hauntings can turn violent while others do not? I don't have all the answers.

2 comments:

Alex, poltergeist activity is an excellent example, although some people are of the persuasion that poltergeists are not ghosts and do not constitute a haunting: http://writerstevensymes.blogspot.com/2011/07/do-you-have-poltergeist.html